By turns rugged and raw, green and pristine, Montafon is a veritable natural beauty from all angles. For centuries, livestock and alpine dairy farming dominated the valley and tamed the landscape here. Farming life was by no means easy, considering they had to do so surrounded by the region’s tallest mountains, including Piz Buin at a height of 3,312 metres.
The breath-taking valleys of Montafon have also been a magnet for writers, thinkers, nobles and sports stars over the years, with a guest list ranging from Ernest Hemingway to Herbert von Karajan to the Spanish national football team. Indeed, a guided walk through Schruns and along the Litz promenade name-checks over 100 significant personalities who have visited the town. The tour itself is entertaining, inspiring and relaxing, with a number of benches and seating areas along the way for older group members to take an opportune respite next to the water and pastoral scenes.
After a sojourn in Schruns, the journey to Silbertal takes just a few minutes. From there, the cable car takes you up to the fresh airs of Kristberg at 1,430m. Here you can enjoy a wonderful mountain panorama and unspoilt nature, followed by a short stroll where a well-earned lunch awaits on the terrace of the Panoramagasthof Kristberg.
Right beside this restaurant is St. Agatha Chapel, formally a place of refuge and comfort for miners and their families. A historical guided tour here with anecdotes, tales and the sounds of the flutist Adolf Zudrell will whisk you back to days gone by where silver mining was the order of the day.
Before heading down, there’s an option for a quick stop at the Silbertal Open Air Theatre, which has played host to the Montafoner Sagenfestspiele (“Festival of Legends”) since 1999.
Excursion length:
around 5 hours
Suitable for:
from 1 to a maximum of 50 people
Essential reservations for groups:
Tour guide or local guide in Schruns, if desired
Two-way cable-car trip on the Kristbergbahn
Lunch at the Panoramahof Kristberg
Miners’ tour
